Rabble-arm mounting for metallurgical furnaces.



U. WEDGE.

RABBLE ARM MOUNTING FOR METALLURGICAL FURNACES.

ArPucATloN mso MAR.1.1915. RENEwED 111111.27, 191s.

1 ,206,961. 1 Patented 11%.5, 11116.

2 SHEETS- Snam 2.

bami/Lo w mr mmms uns :afnam 1mm. msmmmu. u L

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

UTLEY WEDGE, OF ARDIVIORE, PENNSYLVANIA.

RABBLE-ARM MOUNTING FOR METALLURGICAL FURNACES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 1, 1915, Serial No. 11,333. Renewed April 27, 1916. Serial No. 94,058.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, UTLEY IVEDGE, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Babble-Arm Mountings for Metallurgical Furnaces, of which the following' is a specification.

M y invention relates to that class of metallurgical furnaces which have central rotating rabble-carrying shafts which are of such small diameter that it is impossible for an attendant to enter the same for the purpose of manipulating the rabble arm securing devices located on the inside of the shaft, one object of my invention being to provide simple and efficient means for securing rabble arms to shafts of this character' and a further object being to effect such result while still permitting the use of partition plates in the shaft and arms for the purpose of `insuring a circulation of water or other cooling agent through the shaft and arms.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view of sufficient of a furnace of the type to which my invention relates to illustrate the application of my invention thereto; Fig. 2 is a view, partly in plan and partly in horizontal section, on the line a-a, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view, partly in plan and partly in horizontal section, on the line --Zn Fig. 1; Fig. 4L is a vertical section on the line @-0, Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a top or plan view of parts of a pair of adjoining' rabble hubs; Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section on the line cZ-6Z, Fig. 1; Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are views similar to part of Fig. 1, but illustrating certain modifications of my invention, and Fig. 10 is a vertical section through the center of the shaft illustrating a certain feature of my invention.

The central shaft of the furnace is composed of alternating tubular sections 1 and i 2, bolted, riveted, or otherwise secured together so as to form a continuous hollow shaft, the sections 1 being in line with the treating chambers of the furnace and having thereon hollow bosses 3 for receiving the inner ends of the rabble arms 4, there being on each of said sections 1 as many .0f the@ bQSSS ERS. @bte are rabble arms in the corresponding treating chamber of the furnace, two being shown in the present instance.

The shaft sections, bosses and rabble arms may be of any desired contour in cross section but I have shown them as of circular cross section and they may be composed of iron or other metal, cast or wrought, being in the present instance shown as castings. The sections of the shaft may also be fitted together in any desired way, the sections 2 being here shown as fitting within the sections 1, bearing against internal shoulders 5 therein, and secured thereto by bolts la.

Extending transversely across the central portion of the shaft section 1 is a partition 6 which may be cast in one piece with said shaft section, as shown in Fig. 1, or if said partition is to be removable, may be separate from the shaft section, and prevented from turning therein by having its edges fitted to grooved lugs 6, as shown in Fig. 10. Centrally disposed in the rabble arm 4 is a partition/7 in line horizontally with the partition 6, but separate from the rabble arm so that it can be inserted into and removed therefrom, said partition being retained in its proper horizontal position by engagement with lugs 7a cast on or otherwise secured to the interior of the arm, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6.

Extending transversely across the rabble arm 4i, a short distance inwardly from the inner end of the same, is a bar S which, at each end. is cast with or otherwise securely connected to said rabble arm so as to be held rigidly therein. The bar 8 is perforated for the passage of the outer end of a bolt 9 whose inner end has a head 10 which enters an opening in the central portion of the partition 6 of the shaft section 1 and serves to confine the bolt 9 longitudinally thereto and also to prevent turning of the bolt.

The outer end of the bolt 9 is threaded for the reception of a nut 11 which bears upon the outer face of the bar 8, and, when.

the inner end of the rabble arm 4 and prevents the same from turning on the boss 3, this lug also entering a corresponding notch in the inner face of the hub 13 of the innermost rabble 14 so as to prevent the same from turning on the rabble arm, each of said rabble hubs 13 having on its outer face a finger 13a for entering a notch in the inner face of the next adjoining rabble hub, as shown in Fig. 5. All of the rabbles throughout the length of the rabble arm are thus locked together and are thereby held rigidly in position 0n said rabble arm. The inner end of the partition plate 7 is likewise notched for the reception of the nut 11. The outer end of the rabble arm may be closed by any suitable means, that shown in the drawing being a screw cap 16V which alsovserves to longitudinally retain the rabble hubs on and the partition 7 in the arm.

Water or other cooling fluid admitted to the shaft at top or bottom, flows vertically through the same and is by reason of the partition plates Gand 7 deflected laterally through each of the rabble arms in succession, the outer end of each partition plate 7 having one or more openings 17 therein so as to permit the water to pass from one side of the partition plate to the other.

The shaft sections l being properly equipped with the projecting bolts 9, the rabble arms, with the rabbles upon them, are passed laterally into the furnace chambers, through suitable openings in the outer wall of the furnace, until the inner ends of said rabble arms are properly seated upon the bosses 3 of the shaft sections l and the outer ends of the bolts 9 project through the bars 8. Nuts 11 carried by suitable socket wrenches are then introduced into the rabble arms and screwed up on the projecting ends of the bolts 9 so as to firmly confine the rabble arms to their seats, the socket wrenches being then withdrawn and the partition plates 7 inserted into the rabble arms from the outer end until their notched inner ends abutagainst the bars 8, whereupon the heads 16 can be screwed upon the outer endsof the rabble arms and the openings in thev outer wall of the furnace closed by means of suitable caps or covers.

With equal facility, a rabble arm and its rabbles can be withdrawn without disturb- Y ing the shaft or the securing bolts carried thereby. j

j Instead of employing bolts 9 locked to the partition G and having threaded ends for the reception of nuts bearing against the outer faces of the bars 8 in the rabble arms the bolts may bethreaded at their inner ends for adaptationto internally threaded lugs 18 on the partition plate 6, as shown in Fig. 7, the heads of the bolts bearing against the outer faces of thebars 8, or a single bolt may be employed, as shown vin Fig. 8, this bolt having at one end a head bearing upon the outer face of the bar 8 of one rabble arm and at the other end a nut bearing upon the outer face of the bar 8 'of the other rabble arm.

An important feature of my invention is the location of the rabble arm securing devices in such proximity to the inner end of the rabble arm as to permit of the use of relatively short bolts 9 since, when such short bolts are used, the degree of lengthening and shortening the saine dueV to expansion and contraction under varying degrees of heaty is negligible, and the secure retention of the rabble arms on the shaft sections l is not affected thereby, as it is likely to be l if the securing bolt extends throughout the. entire length of the arm. The use of the 'Y bolts 9, while preferred, is not, however, es-

sential to the broader embodiment of my invention, since it is manifest thatl a threaded stud, integral with but projecting from the partition 6, might be used in many Acases instead of the separate bolt, as shown for instance in Fig. 9.

V'W hen the partition is readily applicable to or removable from the rabble arm or shaft section the same partition may be employed a number of times in succession, since it is in a measure protected from the heat to which the rabble arm or shaft section itself is subjected and is therefore not likely to be injuriously affected by the heat of the furnace.

I claim:V

l. The combination, in a metallurgical furnace, of a central shaft, a rabble arm cle-' tacliably mounted upon and projecting from said shaft, a securing bolt projecting from said shaft and into Vthe rabble arm, and a bearing within said rabble arm and adjacent to the inner end of the same for engaging the projecting portion of said bolt.

2. The combination, in a metallurgical furnace, of a central shaft, a rabble arm detachably mounted upon and projecting from said shaft, a securing bolt projecting from said shaft into the rabble arm, av bearing in said shaft for the inner end of said bolt, and a bearing for the iouter end of the bolt .located within the rabble arm and adjacent to the inner end of the same.

3. The combination, in a metallurgical furnace, of a central hollow shaft, a hollow rabble arm detachably mounted thereon, partition plates insaid shaft andarm which serve to deflect 'into and through the arm cooling fluid fiowing through the shaft, and

10 ing partition plate in serve to deflect into and through the arm cooling fluid flowing through the shaft, and a securing bolt for said rabble arm in engagement with said partition plate in the shaft but detachable therefrom.

5. The combination, in a metallurgical furnace, of a central hollow shaft, a hollow rabble arm mounted thereon, a partition plate in said rabble arm, and a correspondsaid hollow shaft,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cent both of said partition plates being removable.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

UTLEY VVEDGE.

Witnesses:

KATE A. BEADLE, HAMILTON D. TURNER.

s each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

, Washington, D. C. 

